Die Spinne

Led by the psychotic genius Doctor Von Essen, Die Spinne were a group of fascist fifth columnists active in North America in 1939. Almost certainly operating with the knowledge and tacit approval of the Führer, Die Spinne were able to deploy a number of weapons systems in an attempt to establish a fascist empire in North America, similar in concept to the People's Collective.

Die Spinne may well have been successful in their efforts, had they not been thwarted at every turn by Nathan Zachary's Fortune Hunters. Die Spinne's base of operations is located in the Lost City which is in South America.

Plan
Die Spinne's plan was fiendishly complex, relying on a number of factors. Von Essen, the leader, planned to steal the inventions of his erstwhile colleague, Doctor Fassenbinder, and use these to force the Industrial States of America to accept him as a fascist dictator. To assist him, he recruited Jonathan "Genghis" Kahn and his Red Skull Legion to secure a foothold for his forces in Chicago.

Die Spinne forces attacked the island home of Doctor Fassenbinder with a Tesla tank and fighter support, but were driven off by the Fortune Hunters. Sadly, the Fortune Hunters were too late to save Doc's life, although they retrieved from his body a Die Spinne emblem, their first clue as to their opponents.

The Fortune Hunters followed Von Essen to Arixo and then to a titanium mine in Navajo Territory, where Von Essen was mining titanium. There, the Fortune Hunters engaged Red Skull planes and zeppelins out of Chicago. Defeating the Skull forces, the Fortune Hunters and their Navajo allies were attacked by a Die Spinne Tunnelzug.

Destroying the Tunnelzug, the Fortune Hunters headed for Chicago, where they were able to persuade Kahn to join them against Von Essen.

Thrust out of Chicago by a joint force of Red Skulls and Fortune Hunters, Von Essen persuaded Maria Sanchez to steal Doctor Fassenbinder's plans and bring them to Die Spinne's secret hideout in the Lost City. The Fortune Hunters followed Maria's trail, and were able to destroy the Die Spinne base camp beneath the mountains of South America. Sadly, Maria was killed by Von Essen before the Fortune Hunters could rescue her.

Now equipped with the Wind Turbine integrated into the enormous Starker Sturm zeppelin, Von Essen launched an all-out attack on Chicago. An allied force of Fortune Hunters and Red Skulls was able to destroy not only the fighters and Tesla tank sent by Von Essen, but also the Starker Sturm itself. Von Essen perished in the zeppelin, and with him Die Spinne and their evil plots.

Weapons

 * Focke-Wulf Doppleganger
 * Messerschmitt Pirahna
 * Tesla zeppelin
 * Zepeater
 * Tesla tank
 * Tunnelzug
 * Starker Sturm

Engagements

 * The Dark Night
 * Battle of the Titanium Mine
 * First Battle of the Lost City
 * Second Battle of the Lost City
 * The Lost City Raid
 * Battle of the Windy City

Technology

 * Tesla projector
 * Blockbuster cannon
 * Tesla energy cell